Source: Team_Talk
Ferdinand resigned to heading home
Rio Ferdinand will return to England after Saturday's Group C match with the United States, having come to terms with his World Cup heartbreak.[LNB] The Manchester United defender was last Friday ruled out of the tournament in South Africa by a knee injury suffered in training, scuppering his dreams of captaining England to World Cup glory.[LNB]"It was a complete freak, an accident," said Ferdinand of the incident with Emile Heskey which caused the injury at England's Bafokeng Sports Centre base.[LNB]"The ball came in from one of the lads to Emile, I'd gone to try and tackle him from behind - he didn't actually see me coming - we both went off balance and Emile's weight went down on my knee.[LNB]"It's no fault of his at all. It's just a freak accident that could happen at any given time and it had no connection to any previous injuries I've had."[LNB]Ferdinand was aware his World Cup tournament had ended, even before he received the results of his scan.[LNB]"I knew I wasn't going to be able to play in the World Cup even before I got the scan (result) - I was just waiting to get it confirmed," he told BBC Radio Five Live.[LNB]"It's disappointing, but I've come to terms with it now.[LNB]"The first night was quite a pretty long night, going over what could've been and to not be able to represent your country in the World Cup.[LNB]"I was going over scenarios in my head of what could've been.[LNB]"Leading out your country into a major tournament is the stuff of dreams and it's taken from under your feet.[LNB]"It was a long evening thinking about stuff like that.[LNB]"But after that I've thought to myself I've got to get on with it. There's a lot more people worse off than I am.[LNB]"I'm not dying and it's not like I'll never be able to play football again.[LNB]"Hopefully I'll be able to come back, do some good rehab and I'll be fit and that's what I'm concentrating on now."[LNB]Ferdinand will now watch Saturday's match in Rustenburg, before joining the millions in England watching the Group C fixtures with Algeria (June 18) and Slovenia (June 23) on television.[LNB]"It's always difficult to watch a game that you feel like you could be involved in," he added.[LNB]"I'll be looking to come out again later in the tournament if the rehab allows me to do that."[LNB]Ferdinand inherited the skipper's armband when John Terry was stripped of the captaincy earlier this year.[LNB]Steven Gerrard will now captain Fabio Capello's team in the tournament, but Ferdinand believes Terry still has a pivotal role to play.[LNB]"Even when I was given the captaincy, I don't think that changes you," said Ferdinand.[LNB]"I don't think JT will change the way he plays or the way he is, just because he isn't wearing the armband.[LNB]"If he did, I don't think you'd see the same player.[LNB]"Likewise with Wazza (Wayne Rooney) - if he doesn't show the same passion or has to hold something back, you won't see the same player."
